The Tale of Rin and Lord Death
by Ink on a Page
Summary: One day, a little girl named Rin follows a doe into the forest, a choice that will lead to her fateful meeting with Lord Death. Ten years later, she encounters him once more and learns of his curse. As repayment, she vows to set him free. The only question is will she have what it takes? (AU, SessxRin)
1. Part One: Resurrection

Hi everyone! I hope you are doing well.

This is the short story I've been working on for some time. I was planning on posting it all at once, but I've learned that I get too exhausted trying to work on it as one big chunk. So, here is Part One!

This story is influenced by the book _Keturah and Lord Death_ by Martine Leavitt. It is of course not the same story, but there are some elements that are the same (the idea of Lord Death saving a girl). Other than that, most elements are pretty different. I highly recommend that you read the book if you get a chance! It's a great fairytale-style story. However, if you do read it, do know that I don't plan on necessarily ending it the same way ;P

I'm not sure if this will be a weekly update or not since I'm working on _Paper Cranes_ at the same time. We'll just see how it goes for now :) Future parts will most likely be a lot longer than this. However, I still intend for this to e just a short story.

Enjoy!

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><p><strong>(¯`*•.¸,¤°´ <strong>Once upon a time… **`°¤,¸.•*´¯)**

…there was a little girl named Rin. She was an adorable child with raven-black hair that all the women in the village loved to braid and brush for her. Rin was raised by love. Yet, for all the love the others gave to her, she was indisputably an orphan at no more than seven years of age. It was her grandmother, Kaede, who raised the child from her broken family; a father killed in war and a mother and two brothers dead of a plague, there was no one left in this world to love her except her grandmother.

The child was a favorite of everyone in the small village. She had an infectious smile that even softened the stern expression of the old hermit, though the scowl never departed from his mouth. There were many in the village who took pity upon her condition with a fondness rather greater than sympathy, offering her a bronze coin to run a menial task not worth the price they paid her. Every time, she graced them with a wide grin and ran off in haste, eager to fulfill the task she had been given.

One day, the old widow Kanami offered to give Rin some of her famous homemade mochi for the New Year if she would run down to the forest to gather some fresh berries for her. Rin's mouth watered at the thought, and immediately she nodded vigorously. Kanami's mochi were notorious, and with the New Year's celebration so near, she couldn't resist the temptation of such a delightful treat. Without a second glance back, Rin darted into the forest with a small basket in hand.

Most of the time, the berries everyone liked to eat in the village were found on the outskirts of the tree line; so, when she searched her usual bushes and could find none, Rin became confused. Although Kaede had cautioned her many times to stay out of the forest, warning of the evils that lay beyond, Rin was sure she could find the berries if she went just a little further in.

Soon, however, she had become lost in the woods. Her heart began to thump rapidly in her chest, and she felt like crying. Sniffling back tears, Rin curled up into a little ball and began to look around the dark, lonely woods, feeling terrified. The woods this far in were a lightless, soundless, terrifying prospect. The musty smell of the damp leaves usually comforted her, but now it felt suffocating.

Looking to her right through tear-filled eyes, Rin saw a beautiful yellow flower. She plucked it by its root, spinning the stem between two fingers. Her silent sobs abated for a moment as the bright flash of yellow spun into a wheel as its petals flew around. A smile returned to her face as she tucked it behind one ear. She stood up and brushed the dirt from her orange and yellow yukata, a determined look settling on her face as she wiped the tears from her eyes with her sleeve. _I am going to find my way out of here! Rin can do it!_ She thrust a fist into the air, drawing a punch of courage as she did so.

The next five minutes felt like an hour as she wandered hopelessly. She knew to look for a well-worn path or a break of light through the dense tree branches, but no matter how many foot prints she thought she saw in the dirt, they all died out within a handful of paces. Rin's heart sank in her chest as the rediscovered hope she found with the flower began to fade.

Suddenly, she heard the crack and snap of branches from behind her and she whipped around, her small heart fluttering with fear.

A doe with large, unblinking black orbs stared at her, seeming to assess the small human girl which stood before her, its body rigid with fear. Deeming Rin as nothing close to a threat, its muscles relaxed. Rin, entranced by the beautiful creature in front of her took a step forward. Immediately, however, the doe retreated. Rin frowned in consternation. The doe was so beautiful with its dark golden fur tinged with black, and it looked so, so soft. Remembering what Kaede had taught her, that animals such as deer were simply scared of you, she extended her tiny hand towards the doe. The deer contemplated her hand for a moment before leaning into it, sniffing it for food. Rin giggled at the tickling sensation as the deer rubbed her palm and even licked it once or twice. The doe's fur was silky smooth and she looked young. Rin could even count the white spots which adorned her back like fallen snow.

"I'm lost, Miss Deer. Do you think you could lead me home? I just want to go home now…"

Rin looked up past the doe which was still nuzzling her hand. Back beyond the trees, she saw a tall, shadowy figure in heavy robes, traces of sunlight illuminating silver strands. Her eyes widened in fear and curiosity before suddenly something punched her in the ribs. A cough of blood and spittle mixed with surprise flew from her as she stumbled backwards and fell to the ground. Rin looked down to see an arrow protruding from her chest. Suddenly, the silence of the forest evaporated. The deer darted from her side, leaving her on the ground, alone. A rushing crunching of leaves filled her ears as someone approached.

"Oh gods! I didn't see you. What am I to do, what am I to do?" A frantic voice floated above her. She turned her head to see a villager whose name she couldn't remember hovering over her, his eyes misted with fear.

"I saw the deer and I didn't see you. I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry, sorry, sorry…" he continued to mumble frantically. He bent over, picking her up, but at Rin's choking gasp of pain, he set her back down. "Oh God, what have I done? I'm going to get help, I swear!"

Rin stared up at him, her eyesight beginning to blur. It hurt to breathe, like when you ran too fast for too long, and suddenly your lungs hurt. Or maybe it was like you were underwater and didn't take a breath for a long time. Yes, she decided. This is what this kind of hurt it felt like. A young boy in the village last year had drowned in an accident. Was this what drowning felt like? She nodded, but she wasn't sure in response to what. The sound of crunching leaves faded as the villager's footsteps grew farther and farther away, the silence of the forest engulfing her final breaths.

She opened her eyes, struggling to keep her lids from falling closed. Something inside of her begged her to stay awake, but right now, nothing sounded better than a little afternoon nap. She let her head fall to the side, exhausted by the energy it took to keep it up. Before her were the dark black robes she had seen in the distance, black boots protruding from where the robe ended. Rin wanted to reach out, to touch the cloth. It looked warm, and she was feeling rather cold right now. How could this person have appeared at her side without making a sound? _Maybe he can fly_… the thought drifted lazily across her hazy brain.

The figure squatted next to her, and she saw what had caused the flicker of silver. It was a man, older than she by several years, but despite his beautiful silver hair, he still looked quite young; perhaps three or four years older than her eldest brother would have been had he lived. Even at this young age, Rin realized that there was something otherworldly about him, something that didn't quite belong in these last moments. She could not yet see the details of his face, simply smooth, pale skin, the hood of the robe still concealing his eyes. A tress of hair fell from beneath his robes, and she reached one hand feebly to touch it, finding it played across her hands like silk.

A long-clawed hand emerged from a black sleeve of the robe, sliding the hood from his head. Rin stared up at the golden eyes that met hers, their irises almost the color of the deer's fur, but somehow lighter and colder. Bright magenta marks ran jaggedly across the pale skin, and on his forehead hung a violet crescent moon. His mouth opened, and she caught a glimpse of sharp canines before he began to speak.

"You know that you are dying."

Perhaps it was meant to sound like a question, but it came as a statement. Normally, everything about this inhuman man might have scared Rin, but somehow, she felt at peace. He didn't seem to want to hurt her. If these were the "evils" that Kaede always talked about, she couldn't see how they were all that bad. She nodded feebly in answer to his question. She didn't know what death or dying was supposed to be like, but she guessed that it was something like this.

"Who… who are you?" She hadn't expected to hear her voice escape like a whisper, half-gargled in blood, but there it was. She felt something warm begin to trickle down her cheek.

"I am Lord Death."

Rin stared at him for a moment longer, seeming to take it all in. "I see," she murmured in an almost grown-up fashion. She wanted to giggle at her own silly imitation of an adult, despite how absurd it would be in this moment, but all she could manage was a half-smile. If only she could take a deep, full breath…

Her smile seemed to confuse him. Usually, the young were less afraid of his presence than the old, often too confused by their life's departure to give him too much notice, but never did they continue to smile when he held the string of their lives in his hands.

Rin saw lying on the black, damp forest dirt the yellow flower which she had tucked into her dark brown hair. Already the flower had begun to droop, its life leaving as did its owner's. She reached out for it, wanting to take it into her hand, but her fingers wouldn't respond properly. Lord Death continued to watch the girl in her final moments. "Are you not scared?"

"Scared of what?" Her voice came in short gasps, even softer than before.

"Of death. Of me."

Rin thought for a moment. It was getting harder to focus on his face now. "A little. Not of you." Her whole family was dead. Maybe she could see them one last time before she was reincarnated. That didn't seem like such a scary thought.

Lord Death's eyes narrowed. He was intrigued. "Do you not wish to live any longer?" He looked to the arrow, which remaining in her chest prolonged her life, yet it wouldn't last. He was in the oddest way relived that the idiotic village had not tried to pull it from her ribcage. He would have never been able to talk to her, to get to know the girl in these last moments if he had. He already knew that her moments were now few.

"I think… everyone wants to live longer… Rin has a grandmother. She'll be sad if Rin goes…" her voice trailed off, each breath becoming shorter and shallower. "Wouldn't everyone want to keep living? So many pretty things…" she trailed off, reaching once more for the flower. Lord Death saw her struggles and picked it up delicately by the stem, placing it in her outstretched hand. He wanted to explain to her that the world was not beautiful, that many parts of it were ugly, dark, and twisted, that he was the ultimate culmination of everything terrible, but he would not rob her of her final hopes to believe the world was this way.

Rin nodded as emphatically as she could muster which was barely a movement at all. Her eyes were now half-closed. She seemed to be struggling to stay awake. "Look at what the gods send me before I see my parents again. An angel with moonlight hair…"

Her last response was an upturn of blood-soaked lips and a hand reaching for his long hair which fell on her chest. Weakly, fingers trembling with effort, she placed the dying yellow flower into it, tangling its stem in the silver tresses in order to make it stay. Her hand reached one last time towards him before falling limp back to her chest. Her eyes were open, but there was no life behind the dark brown irises. She was dead.

Lord Death hovered for several moments after she went still. Slowly, he disentangled the flower from his hair, spinning it by the stem between forefinger and thumb before tucking it behind the girl's ear where it belonged. She had been truly unafraid to go. This girl had already known so much death in her life; perhaps that was why. He had been the one to watch her face as he lifted the spirits of her mother, father, and two brothers from their bodies to carry them to the other world. Now, here he was to do the same for her, yet this time, nobody was watching, for there was almost no one left in her life to see her die. "An angel," she had called him.

Unbidden, a feeling, nostalgic of one he hadn't felt for centuries, washed over him. Puzzled, he looked inside the folds of his cloak to where two swords rested on his hip: one for severing the soul, and one for saving it. The latter, Tenseiga, he had only touched once before. Now, however, it hummed, brimming at his side, seeming to be pleading to be used. He drew the blade from its sheath, perplexed by its sudden call. The moment he touched the hilt, he felt a foreign power pulse through his veins. He saw the seams of her soul pulling from her body, the demons of hell hungering after it. He brought the sword down in a swift arc, destroying the creatures. Her soul fell back into place, and he heard her breathing resume in short, small gasps.

Lord Death had only one moment to comprehend the meaning of Tenseiga, the healing blade, before thousands of white-hot knives pierced every inch of his body, crippling him in pain. He doubled over, roaring in agony, the forest trembling with his pain. Panicked cries drew nearer, the frightened words of several humans pulling closer and closer by the minute. Lord Death attempted to rise to his feet, but the pain was too great. Slowly, he pulled himself against a distant tree, drawing his cloak around him for protection from wandering human eyes.

The villagers were there, by the girl's side immediately. An old woman with long, grey hair approached the body, the color draining from her face at the sight. "Rin," she called to her grandchild in hushed tones. The old woman pressed her wrinkled fingers to the girl's throat, feeling for a pulse. "Her heart still beats," she called into the crowd. "Hurry! We must act quickly."

At her words, the others pulled from a leather satchel several pots of herbs and bandages. Rin's eyes fluttered open slowly. She looked around for Lord Death, but she couldn't find him immediately.

"W-where–" Her words were cut off by sharp hushing sounds from her grandmother. "'Tis time you be the bravest you have ever been, Rin-chan. Now, now, don't speak."

Her gaze flitted around the small clearing, hunting for the black robe. Finally, at the edge of the roots of a tree, she saw a small touch of black cloth, barely distinguishable from the dark soil. Her eyes roamed the tree, catching only a flash of silver and a glint of gold before the sea of unconscious swept her under once more.

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><p>I hope you enjoyed part one! I think there will be about five parts in total (or, at least that's around where I'm aiming for). If you have the time, please leave a review! I love to hear anything and everything you guys have to say.<p> 


	2. Part Two: Death

I didn't expect to be putting this update out before _Paper Cranes'_, but I guess since I had a little more legwork already done on this, here it is! _PC_ will have an update tomorrow :)

I hope you enjoy Part Two!

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><p>Rin awoke on the floor of the her grandmother's house, a misty grey morning light seeping in from behind the thick cotton curtains which covered the perpetually grimy windows. She had dreamt again of him, Lord Death, even though it had been over a decade since she had truly seen him last.<p>

Through the years, he weaved in and out of her dreams, occasionally even seeming to appear in the corner of her vision. Sometimes it would be a rustling of leaves. Other times, a whisper of silver. As soon as she realized and turned to catch a glimpse, however, he was always already gone.

Stretching, she rose to face her grandmother who was still fast asleep on the other side of the room. It was still quite early and the sun had only begun to rise. Rin threw a thick grey cloak about her shoulders, tied her hair back, and went out to feed the chickens who were already crowing for their breakfast.

Once outside, she breathed in the thick fog of the morning that always stretched across the hills at dawn. Sometimes in the morning, the fog was so thick that you could hardly see your own hand in front of your face. Most people stayed in on such mornings, but Rin particularly enjoyed them.

Yawing, she walked to the side yard which adjoined the small, frail wooden house and grabbed the pail of chicken feed. She spread the husk-covered rice and other excess grains on the ground before the chickens, humming half of a mostly forgotten tune while she was swarmed by the flock which pecked frantically at the ground by her feet.

Walking to the coop, she scooped up two fat brown eggs from a young mother hen's nest for that morning's porridge. Kaede hadn't been well of health lately, and Rin was afraid that she wasn't eating enough, so she had been preparing more eggs which were typically more of a treat in their household.

Brushing off her clothes after exiting the coop, she swore under her breath. The chickens had knocked over the pail which she had set on the other side of the low fence, picking at what little they could reach through the bars. Rin swept it up with her hand, putting as much as she could back into the pail. Rice crops hadn't been as plentiful this year as the village was used to, so there was very little extra to spare.

As she rose from her knees, she noticed something in the distant fog: a trail of black along the dark green of the grass that didn't quite match. Her brow furrowed, Rin inched closer to the shadow. If it was Kenichi's dog in her coop again, she would have his blood. The mangy mutt had already killed one of her hens and wounded another, both who were prime for mating at the time. She had warned him many times already, but it might take a good tongue-thrashing to finally be rid of the prowler.

Yet, as Rin approached, the black line didn't move an inch. Instead, as she got closer, she saw that it was not a dog but what seemed to be the edge of another's cloak. Her breath was sucked from her chest as she drew closer, her heart beginning to race with excitement. This had happened many times before, but never had he stood still for longer than a moment.

"Lord Death…?" she whispered faintly. The moment the sound parted her lips, however, she regretted it. Instantly, the air around her warmed and her breath returned to her chest. This was the only sign that he was gone. What had been a cloak was now just a sharp shadow cast by a wooden crate left in the side of the yard.

Rin sighed, disappointed.

She was told that when they pulled the arrow from her chest, no blood poured forth and no wound was left behind. Everyone praised it as a miracle. Her grandmother had cried for an hour from happiness and relief. Nobody suspected that it could be anything _but_ an act of the gods, but Rin knew that it was something more. She had awoken, her memories faint but undeniably present. It had been no god that saved her, or at least no god that the villagers prayed to. He was the one that everyone feared, the one with the silver hair and the jagged magenta lines striping his jaw.

Sometimes, she wondered if he was simply born out of her child's imagination, a figurine carved by her own will for some greater meaning to her escape from death. When her dreams were vacant of him, when she had yet to catch even the glimpse of a swirling black cloak for several months, she began to question her own sanity. Yet, he had always reappeared to her. Like a familiar nightmare, frightening but somehow comforting in its regular recurrence, he returned to her.

Rin brushed the remaining grass from her cloak and returned inside to find her grandmother stirring in her futon. Feeling the still-warm eggs in her hand, she fetched the pot to make breakfast and begin her day.

**(¯`*•.¸,¤°´-`°¤,¸.•*´¯)**

It was late afternoon before Rin was done with her daily chores. Heat strokes had been making their rounds through the village, so everyone was either demanding medicine to help those who were sick or satchels of herbs for teas to ward off exhaustion. In addition to that, there was the small number of livestock they had to feed and clean, vegetables to trade and buy, and river water to fetch and boil for the nightly soup, one of the few dishes obaa-san was still able to digest without trouble.

Rin looked up into the unrelenting sun, bright and high overhead. The mornings began so cool, but the heat quickly began to boil the soil under her bare feet. No clouds swept over the clear blue sky to relieve her flushed skin. Wiping the sweat from her brow with the back of her hand, Rin shielded her eyes as she tried to gauge the time from the position of the sun.

"Rin-chan!" called a strong voice wavering only from age. "You should come inside girl. Come and have some water!"

"Coming obaa-san," Rin called behind her to the little grey head which poked out a window of the house. She smiled, trying to reassure her grandmother who simply gave her a skeptical look before retreating back inside the cool shelter.

"You really should listen to your grandmother. She's a very wise woman, you know."

Rin jumped at the sound of the familiar male voice and smile curved into a frown. "How do you do that Kohaku-kun?! You always manage to sneak up on me!"

"A hunter's prowess," he replied with a wink and a flash of a grin. "What could you possibly be doing on such a hot day? Your cheeks are starting to sunburn." He lifted a hand to her cheek, ostensibly to feel her temperature, but that didn't stop Rin from blushing at his cool touch. Never had she been so grateful for the sun's excuse for a flushed face.

She brushed his hand away. "I am finishing up my work! What about you? Why are you hanging around instead of protecting the village, huh?"

"I'm hurt by your insensitivity. I'll have you know that I've already slayed three demons today," he said as he crossed his arms.

"What, butterfly demons? How brave of you," she said, pushing his shoulder lightly.

"Hey! Don't underestimate the fearsome, growling butterfly demon. They can be quite vicious. Next time one of them takes a bite out of you, don't come crying to me about it!"

"I'm no Akane. I can take care of my own butterfly demon problems," Rin said contentiously, laughing. Akane, a girl about Rin's age, was notorious for not even being able to handle a cockroach, much less a demon of any size. She was only built for the inside, a task which suited her well and found her a husband quickly. Already, she was with child.

"So, what's the real reason you came here? Not dodging work, I hope," Rin asked, eyeing him suspiciously.

"Of course not! I never do _that._.." Rin glared at him, and he looked exasperated. "I just came because my mother is having another one of her headaches and I was being a dutiful son to get her medicine for her."

Rin still gazed at with narrow-eyed suspicion for a moment before leaning the shovel against the gate and leading Kohaku into the house. Inside, Kaede was stirring a large pot vegetables into a stew for dinner.

"Good evening, Kohaku-san," Kaede said as the boy passed through the door, his bare feet pattering loudly against the tatami mats.

"Good evening, obaa-san!" Kohaku said, waving cheerfully. "How have you been?"

"Well enough, well enough my child. Now, how can I be of service today?

"His mother needs another headache medication. Perhaps the ones we've been giving her aren't quite strong enough…" Rin mused as she bustled around the small house, searching in pantries, cupboards, and chests for the satchels of herbs she needed.

"Kohaku's mother has been having an awful lot of headaches lately, hasn't she?" Kaede said, looking up briefly to stare at Kohaku with a knowing smile. "Why, we gave her one only two days ago. It should have lasted until at least the end of the week. Have we not been preparing them correctly?"

Kohaku's tan face flushed slightly, a gentle shade of pink coloring his cheeks. "No, no! That's not it at all. You and Rin always make the most effective remedies! The headaches have just been rather strong and, well, you know…"

Kaede raised one eyebrow at Rin whose back was still facing them as she dug through layers of herbs, and Kohaku's face glowed even brighter.

"Ah! Got the little bugger," Rin said triumphantly as she pulled the drawstrings on the satchel closed. "I've added more peppermint this time, so it should do the trick this time. As always, have her make a cup of tea with it, but this time, use a pinch more than usual."

"Understood," Kohaku said, his hands cupping Rin's as the satchel exchanged hands. "Thank you both again."

"Tell your mother I wish her well! She might want to drop by the house if the headaches persist."

"I'll let her know." Kohaku smiled and gave a slight wave of the hand as he left to return to his home on the other side of the village.

"You know," Kaede began, rising from the wooden chair in the corner as she gripped her cane more tightly, "I suspect that they must have ten satchels of unused headache remedies stocked in their house by now. If we're not careful, they could start their own apothecary soon."

Rin looked a little confused. "Obaa-san, what do you mean? If his mother has been having so many headaches, then we should be praying for her health, not teasing him about it!"

"Dear Rin, you know as well as I do that these headaches are as real as magic dust! Why, I'll fry up old Tan-chan if she's had _half_ as many headaches as he's bought remedies for in the past three weeks," Kaede retorted, gesturing at the slinky tabby cat curled in the corner. "I saw her in the marketplace just the other afternoon, and when I asked her health was, she gave me the most puzzled look! You know quite well it is only _you_ he comes here for."

Rin shook her head obstinately, gathering the dishes for dinner. "You're getting senile," she teased.

Kaede muttered something along the lines of "Senile my foot!" before sitting herself before the low table as Rin ladled the steaming stew into their bowls.

**(¯`*•.¸,¤°´-`°¤,¸.•*´¯)**

Later that evening after the dishes had been cleared, the floors swept and the herbs reorganized, Rin lay wide awake in her futon, her thoughts swirling. Already Kaede's snores had begun to rattle the wooden floorboards of the hut, but Rin wasn't quite ready to sleep yet. For some reason, her thoughts kept drifting back to that morning. Had it really been him, Lord Death?

Tan-chan the cat was fully awake now, his day only just beginning. He stretched, claws flexing, and walked dutifully onto Rin's futon, plopping himself at her back and promptly began batting at her hair.

Rin rolled over to glower at the cat. "Move!"

He blinked solemnly back at her, his tail flicking lightly side to side. Rin lifted him up and removed him from the futon, only to have him climb back on and bat at her hair again. They repeated this routine twice. Just as Rin was about to give up and toss the cat to the other side of the room, a knock interrupted their charade.

She looked to Tan-chan, his eyes now wide and staring intently at the door. Rin rose, securing the belt of her sleeping robe. Who could be disturbing them this late at night?

Rin pulled the door open to find Akane's little sister, Aiko, panting on the porch, doubled over from the long run from their house on the other side of the village.

"What's wrong?!" Rin all but cried aloud with fright at the sight of Akane's tear-stained cheeks and bloodied hands.

"Akane… the b-baby," she panted in fragments.

"What's this, my child?" came the voice of Kaede, apparently awoken by the ruckus. "You mean to say the baby… Is the baby coming?" At the sight of Aiko's vigorously nodding, Kaede's eyes widened and the air around her became fraught with worry. Akane was still a week away before the eighth moon of pregnancy, putting both her and her child's life in peril.

Kaede bustled to get their cloaks, pulling Rin's out as well. "Come, Rin, we must go now. There is no time to spare." Kaede only called Rin by her first name in times of great urgency.

Rin blinked several times before her brain kicked into gear, mechanically moving her body out of the hut. Grabbing up the necessary bandages, herbs, and salves needed, Kaede and Rin hurried out following quickly behind Aiko. There hadn't been a premature birth in the village for nearly a decade now, long before Rin had started her medical training. This would be her first midwifing experience with any serious complications in the birth.

They reached the hut, the terrified whimpers audible from outside. Shinji, Akane's husband, was leaning against the outside walls of their home. His eyes were wide, a sheen of sweat visible on his forehead.

Kaede walked too where he stood frozen, and, putting a wrinkled, sun-worn hand on his shoulder, said, "They will be safe. Be at rest."

He nodded, hollow-eyed, and Rin doubted if he could hear anything in the midst of this quiet chaos.

Pushing through the parted sliding door, Rin entered to a scene of crimson and white: bloodied sheets, bloodied hands, bloodied bedclothes, pale faces, blank stares. Akane, who had always been considered somewhat of a beauty for her white skin, was currently a pale blue. She stared back at them with wide, doe-like eyes.

"Rin-san, Kaede-obaa-san, I'm so glad to see you… I don't know what's happening. I thought my water had broken but there was so, so much blood… then the baby started coming, but it's too early, and then–"

Rin walked to where she lay, putting a soothing hand to her clammy forehead, and interrupted her frantic whispers. "Don't worry," she said, smiling gently. "We'll take care of you. Put your trust in us."

Kaede was already preparing for her work, instructing Aiko to run outsize and fetch a kettle of water from the well to heat for the birth. Rin gave Akane instruction on how to breathe, wiped her face clean of the sweat and tears of shock, and pushed her hair back and away from her face as if this were a normal birth. But this wasn't normal, not normal at all. That much Rin could tell. Rin had attended and been an assistant midwife to Kaede in many births, and there had always been blood, but never this much. Akane's skin was ice cold to the touch. Finding several blankets that had not been stained yet, she draped them over her, hushing the terrified girl.

Kaede moved quickly and gracefully in her work, especially for one of such advanced age. She and Rin lifted Akane, placing pillows underneath her to elevate her back. Tying up her sleeves, Kaede, reached between Akane's legs. After a few moments, her face, which she kept so impassively blank during her medical work, relaxed a fraction. "The baby is ready to come. If there is any hope, we must let him come now."

Akane nodded, her eyes still wide. "Now?

"Yes, now, my child." Kaede turned to Rin, giving her a look full of significance she didn't understand.

They had entered a couple hours after the sun had gone down, and the baby arrived just a few hours before the sun was to rise. Rin swept the child up into her arms, the tiny baby boy wriggling weakly. Rin patted him gently until he coughed and spat onto a thin cloth she had readied for him. He began to cry, and Rin breathed a sigh of relief. Cleaning him with warm water, she wrapped him in fresh linens before handing him to Akane.

"He's beautiful…" she said weakly, her voice barely a whisper.

"What shall you name the child?" Kaede asked

"Ichirou, I think." A faint smile crossed her lips. "He looks like his father, doesn't he?" Rin nodded obligingly, wrapping blankets around mother and child. When Rin touched Akane's forehead to wipe it dry once more, she found it even colder. She turned to Kaede, eyes wide, and Kaede nodded solemnly.

Akane was going to die. The baby too, perhaps. At least there was a glimmer of a chance for him, but for her, all was already lost.

It wasn't until this moment that Rin realized the significance of the look Kaede had given her hours earlier. Kaede had known before this had begun, probably as soon as she walked into the hut, and now, death was nigh.

Kaede walked to Rin and whispered in her ear, "Let her be with her son until she passes. It shan't be long now." Chills cascaded down Rin's spine. Suddenly, the room felt too small, too constricting. There wasn't even room enough to breathe. Rin slid the door to the house open, feeling nausea creeping over her body.

Shinji rushed to her, hurling unintelligible questions. "It's a baby boy," was all Rin could muster. She wasn't sure if she had been able to mask her face sufficiently for his sake. She could hardly control any part of herself anymore. She rushed half-stumbling to the bank of the river and was sick, the contents of the light meal splashing into the mud and water. Tears coursed down her cheeks as she heaved, wishing that she could stop the paralyzing shock.

Rin stared up at the night sky, pleading the weather to change, to show some symptom that the world was going to notice Akane's passing. The girl she had known since childhood was on death's doorstep, but the stars in the heavens twinkled impassively as ever. As the blood on Rin's hands turned cold, the air remained warm. There was no chill, no wind, no sign at all that a significant life was leaving the world. The world moved on.

Just as she had given up all hope, the air grew cold around her, goose bumps prickling up on her skin. Rin looked up, relieved to see that finally the Earth was realizing its great mistake in letting a life, any life, slip so quietly and unnoticed out of the world, especially the one of a girl who was still too young, too vibrant, with a future too bright. She clasped her hands together.

"Thank you, kami-sama, for noticing at least in the smallest way that Akane was important to–"

"There is no God to thank."

Rin whipped her head around at the vaguely familiar, masculine voice that had interrupted her thanksgiving. Her heart skipped a beat at the sight of the long, silver hair and cold amber eyes, the black robe for which she had so long mistaken shadows for. Though he was not quite as tall, looming, or ominous as she had remembered him in her child memories, he was still a sight to behold, standing at least a head taller than anyone else in the village. His cheekbones were sharp with jagged magenta lines slicing through the pale white skin. His entire presence was menacing, threatening, but somehow…

"L-Lord Death…" she managed to mutter after a brief moment. She stood, her head bowed.

"Ah, I see that you have learned to fear me since the last time we met." His cat-like eyes narrowed.

"That's not it at all!" she cried indignantly. "I am just surprised by your presence, milord… What are you doing here?"

"Is not it obvious?" he asked, gesturing a clawed hand carelessly at the wooden house where Akane lay dying inside its thin walls.

Rin swallowed hard. "Why have you come for her? She is too young. You can't take her now. Please, you must find some other way! There are too many people who love her, who need her."

Lord Death scoffed at her request. "I have no such powers. I do not 'take' the lives of others, I guide them to their next life. It is their fate. Life flickers in and out of existence for mortals just as abruptly as the flame of a candle. The world does not mourn for the loss of a single human," he said coldly, gesturing to the wide spaces around them.

"You must be able to do something, though. Surely, surely you must… You saved my life, did you not?"

His mouth hardened into an impenetrable line. "That is not the same. You do not understand."

"How can I understand when no one has ever given me answers to the questions I have asked? I thought I was mad, that you were a hallucination. Everyone told me that I was seeing things, but yet here you are, in front of my eyes."

He raised one eyebrow to her and drew nearer. "You want to know the secrets of life and death, the ones no mortal ears should ever hear?"

As he came closer, it was as if ice had been poured down the back of her robe. For years she had craved the knowledge, and now here it was, a possibility. A strange sensation of weakness was passing over her, the soreness of a bad cold. "Yes," she replied, though her brain told her that she should've answered otherwise.

Lord Death peered at her for a moment longer before turning away from her. "Be in the forest at tomorrow's witching hour then, and I shall answer what I wish." His cloak brushed her robe as he walked away from her in the direction of Akane's house. Rin stood for a moment longer, dazed by what had just happened.

"Wait, Lord Death!" she called. "You're still going to take her? There's nothing at all I can do for her?"

He paused, then without turning back, replied, "No, there is nothing."

Trying her chances, she decided to call after him once more. "And the baby, shall he live?"

This time, Lord Death did not stop moving. Rin sank to the ground and buried her weary face in her blood-soaked hands, wiping away the exhaustion. Sinking her hands into the cool water, she began to scrub the blood off with her hands. She did not raise her head when the male roar of agony rose from the house like a wounded animal, nor when the baby's shrieks made it known to the world that he would forever be without his true mother. Hot tears rolled down her cheeks, dripping into the current of the river that took no notice of their added presence.

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><p>I hope you guys liked the latest chapter! I know there was probably a little less Sesshomaru than you guys would have liked, but I promise you that from here on out, that's pretty much all you'll be seeing ;P<p>

If you have the chance, please take the time to review. I love to hear what you guys like and what you think I could be doing better! It's the only way I'll ever get to improve :)

A big, big thanks to all of the user reviewers from the previous chapter: **MissyCLady of the west, Kibachow, Evervescent, Blackmoon OniOokami, Yuri-Ishtar, xXvampire girl1Xx, Sotam, PAMILA DE CASTRO, **and **December Sapphire!** Thank you so much for all of your support! I will be sending out user reviews after this chapter is posted.

_To the guest reviewers of the previous chapter_:

**Guest** – I'm glad you found it so, and I hope found liked this chapter interesting as well! Thank you so very much for taking the time to leave a review, and I hope all is going well with you :)

**Happtello98** – I'm so happy to hear from you again! I hope all is well with you? All of your questions will be answered in due time, of course ;) Thank you so much as always for leaving a review! I hope that you enjoyed this second part as well.


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